Hashish
"allowed the spirit to ascend to the highest points in a heavenly ascension of disembodied understanding.” - al-Is’irdi Hashish, or hash, is a cannabis product composed of compressed or purified preparations of stalked resin glands, called trichomes. It contains the same active ingredients as marijuana—such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other cannabinoids—but often in higher concentrations than the unsifted buds or leaves from which marijuana is made. Hashish may be solid or resinous depending on the preparation; pressed hashish is usually solid, whereas water-purified hashish—often called "bubble melt hash"—is often a paste-like substance with varying hardness and pliability, its color most commonly light to dark brown can vary to seethrough glass varying toward yellow/tan, black or red. This all depends on the process and amount of solvent left over. The name hashish comes from the Arabic word ( حشيش ) which means grass. History Cannabis indica grows wild almost everywhere on the Indian sub-continent, and special strains have been particularly cultivated for production of ganja and hashish particularly in West Bengal, Rajasthan and the Himalayas. Northern India has a long social tradition in the production of hashish, known locally as charas, which is believed to be the same plant resin as was burned in the ceremonial booz rooz of Ancient Persia. Both Pythagoras and Democritus journeyed to Egypt, Ethiopia, Arabia and Persia. This had them visiting sects of drug-using wise men, known as Magi. They wrote extensively about the potent psychotropic substances with which they experimented, including cannabis. They brought back cannabis to Greece and it was soon used to dress wounds and sores on their horses, and in humans, dried leaves of cannabis were used to treat nose bleeds, and cannabis seeds were used to expel tapeworms. In the medieval Islamic world, Arabic physicians made use of the diuretic, antiemetic, antiepileptic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic properties of Cannabis sativa, and used it extensively as medication from the 8th to 18th centuries. Alleged Hashashin Use "Much of the well-known mystical symbolism of Sufism, often best known through the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, was taken over by the Isma'ilis. They joined Sufism and Shiism in a peculiar and unique blend, often appearing as a particular group of Sufis with their own Shaykh....It would not..be surprising if the use of hashish and other drugs for achieving mystical ecstasy was also carried over from the Sufis." - Edward Burman, The Assassins - Holy Killers of Islam According to Marco Polo the Hashashin leader "kept at his court boys of twelve years old as seemed to him destined to become courageous men. When the Old Man sent them into the garden in groups of four, ten or twenty, he gave them a certain potion to drink. They slept for three days, then they were carried sleeping into the garden where he had them awakened. When these young men woke, and found themselves in the garden with all these marvelous things, they truly believed themselves to be in paradise. And these damsels were always with them in songs and great entertainments; they; received everything they asked for, so that they would never have left that garden of their own will. And when the Old Man wished to kill someone, he would take him and say: 'Go and do this thing. I do this because I want to make you return to paradise'. And the assassins go and perform the deed willingly." Hassan-i Sabbah and other early Assassin Masters having gardens seems likely since the garden is such an important part of Persian noble life and of mysticism. The water channels and meticulous care to ensure regular water supplies at Assassin castles echo the care which Persian and Arab villages and country houses today give to the presence of running water. So the legend of the garden in which Assassins were taken probably has its origins in fact. Many scholars have argued, and demonstrated convincingly, that the attribution of the epithet 'hashish eaters' or 'hashish takers' is a misnomer derived from enemies the Isma'ilis and was never used by Moslem chroniclers or sources. It was therefore used in a pejorative sense of 'enemies' or 'disreputable people'. This sense of the term survived into modern times with the common Egyptian usage of the term Hashasheen in the 1930s to mean simply 'noisy or riotous'. Consumption It is consumed by being heated in a pipe, hot knife (placed between the tips of two heated knife blades), burned as incense, mixed with cannabis buds or cooked in food, especially sweets. Effects The most well-known effect of hashish use is the same euphoric, drowsy, sedated effect of cannabis. But along with this comes the distortions of time and space. A person may not realize how much time has passed. Trivia * The accounts of the effects of the drug the Hashashin allegedly used, 'dying, going to paradise, returning back to this world with no fear of death', seem to bear many similarities to psychedelics. Alternatively, the effects of a "deep sleep" bear similarities to both opium and cannabis. * Some scholars claim that cannabis was used by the Roman Mithraic Mystery Cults. * Contrary to popular belief, Marco Polo never claimed the Assassins used hashish, but simply a "certain potion which cast them into a deep sleep". It was in fact an Arabic narrative called "The Memoirs of Hakim" that mentioned the use of bhang, a preparation of cannabis used in food and drink. Sources * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashish * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_medical_cannabis * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_cannabis